Sunday service at St. Martin's Episcopal church Dec. 18, 2011 in Houston, TX. (Eric Kayne/For the Chronicle)

Sunday service at St. Martin's Episcopal church Dec. 18, 2011 in Houston, TX. (Eric Kayne/For the Chronicle)

Photo: Eric Kayne

With Christmas on Sunday, some churches scaling back services

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Churches typically draw their largest crowds on Sundays, but not this weekend.

With Christmas falling on a Sunday, many Protestant pastors are consolidating services or even canceling worship for the day. Instead, their congregations will show up in great numbers on Christmas Eve and celebrate at home on the holiday.

St. Martin's Episcopal Church, the largest Episcopal congregation in the country, anticipates just 500 to 600 people at its one service Sunday. But 6,000 are expected at the five Christmas Eve services, said the Rev. Ken Fields.

The Galleria-area church usually offers five worship gatherings on Sundays.

"On Christmas Day, we have one service, whether it's Sunday or not," said Fields, the vice rector. "This allows the majority of our staff to take off."

Nationwide, 91 percent of Protestant churches will hold at least one service Christmas morning this year, 63 percent will hold services on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and some 9 percent will not worship on Sunday, a LifeWay Research survey found.

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"Having church on Christmas Day when it falls on a Sunday seems as if it would be as much of a given as having Thanksgiving on a Thursday, but this has been an issue of discussion and contention in recent years," said Ed Stetzer, president of Southern Baptist-affiliated LifeWay. "We wanted to know how many churches plan to conduct services on each day, since that is also such a family day - particularly the morning."

It's the first Christmas for the new congregation, which meets at the downtown YMCA, and it will hold a service early on Christmas Eve.

"We just thought it would be easier on families to not gather on Christmas," said pastor Russell Cravens.

That doesn't mean they're downplaying the holiday: The 100-person congregation has spent the month in Advent liturgy and collecting a Christmas offering for needy families in the neighborhood.

For some, no changes

At Catholic churches, where Christmas is a holy day of obligation, parishes will continue to celebrate Mass at regular times, plus additional services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to accommodate typically larger crowds.

Catholics can find Mass times online at archgh.org, the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston's website.

"Our folks will have an expectation of, 'It's Sunday. We're going to church,' whether it's Christmas or not," said the Rev. David Fleming, pastor of Champion Forest Baptist Church, a 5,500-person congregation in northwest Houston.

Fleming expects younger families will come on Christmas Eve, while other members will attend the same service at 9:30 on Christmas morning. The church's Spanish service will be at 11 a.m. Sunday. This week, Champion Forest will skip its specialty services, including those designed for children, students and church leaders.

'It's still the Lord's day'

Most churches that do meet Sunday will forgo Sunday school classes and child care.

"We're going to make it real simple, meet together, do a couple of Christmas carols," said Daniel Davis, pastor of Covenant Community Church in Pearland. "We didn't want to cancel Christmas. We're not expecting it to be a booming service, but it's a great reason for us to come together. We want to acknowledge the birth of Christ."

The small evangelical congregation decided not to hold Christmas Eve services, leaving that night free for family activities.

"It's still the Lord's day," Crimmins said. "Families with small children will probably have done their under-the-tree fun. They can bring a favorite toy with them. Children can come in their PJs and adults in Christmas casual."